
Help us help more women with heart disease
Women undergoing heart surgery are more at risk of post operative complications purely because they have to wear a bra! Yes, that's correct and that's why reducing risk is key to ensuring that women continue to live well following cardiac surgery. Whilst in hospital, we can undertake special procedures such as “vacuum” dressings which reduce pressure, prevent infection and draw the wound together. However, women still remain at risk when they leave hospital, and we advise them to wear a specially designed surgical bra day and night for at least six weeks following surgery. This means that they likely are in need of more than one so that they are able to change them regularly.
As we work in some of the most economically deprived areas in the UK the costs of these bras (£24 each) is sometimes out of the reach of some of our poorest patients. We want to be able to provide them with the means of protecting themselves at home so we are approaching you now to see if it might be possible for you to make a gift of £24 (or whatever you can afford) to help us to provide these important items for our female patients in this position.
Below, LHCH Tissue Viability Nurse Consultant, Julie Tyrer explains a little more about the need for these bras, the impact they can make for our female patients and why your support is vital to this campaign.